Communications Officer for the two British National Party's MEPs and
the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Workington

"I wasn't 'imprisioned', I was fined £1,500. I refused to pay this on a matter of principle. It was my personal choice to serve three months in Pentonville Prison back in the 1980s in protest at our draconian race relations laws."

About Me

Sunday, 30 November 2008

If my avocado trees have survived last night's frost here in Cumbria I shall be delighted, but I fear the worse and will probably have to find some apple trees in the spring to replace the gaps in my 'orchard'.

Not a real post today as we are off to Carlisle shortly to get Tina a new ski jacket, but I just had to direct my readers to this report in today's Sunday Times.

And the idiots in the Labour Party thought that publishing our membership list would hurt the British National Party! With enemies like this, who needs friends?

Friday, 28 November 2008

NO matter how much the media tries to muddy the waters with its array of alleged culprits for the massacre in Mumbai, there is only one defining motivation behind the slaughter - Islamic expansionism.

Television reports have meticulously avoided using the word Islam or Muslim. Instead they have talked about the perpetrators being International terrorists, Al-Qaeda, Mujahideen, Taliban, Jihadists and Pakistan . . . almost as if they are frightened of revealing the truth about those who are responsible. All these have just one clear motivation, Islamic expansionism, and to enlighten the public as to what is going on, the media should be making the situation clearer, not confusing it more. The BBC in particular seems almost desperate to introduce an international element to the tragedy, linking it to its favourite scapegoat Al-Qaeda, the convenient deposit for all the misdeeds of Islam.

Muslims in India make up around 15% of the population and they are constantly pushing for more space and more self-determination from the Hindu majority. These attacks are behind that campaign and that is the important warning that Britain should be heeding from what has taken place in Mumbai.

In Britain, Muslims currently make up 5% of the population and that total is increasing every year. The Islamic lobby here, as in India, is pushing, pushing all the time for more self-determination and our weak-kneed Government gives in every time. To avoid what is happening in India we need to stem the growth of Islam in our country NOW.

We need to stop all immigration into Britain.Send all illegal immigrants back to their own countries.Send all migrant workers home.Oppose all planning applications for new mosques, conversion of buildings into mosques and expansion to existing mosques.

But most importantly, we must encourage through financial incentives Muslims living in Britain legally, to move to an Islamic country where they will be able to celebrate their religion with other Muslims. Britain is a Christian country and if we wish to keep it that way and for our people to be able to live free from fear of attack from within, then we must take steps now to safeguard our future.

I knew that Melanie Phillips wouldn't be happy with her drubbing from Lee Barnes on the Moral Maze and she was obviously smarting so much that she immediately penned a report for The Spectator which appeared this morning. Phillips, just like Hitchens, Gaunt and Littlejohn are the establishment's safety valves and they need to be exposed as such. They identify the concerns of the majority but offer no solutions and then attack the only political party that can bring about what they advocate. It's the classic way to maintain the status quo and keep the old gang parties in power.

I've just this minute put the telephone down on DC O'Brien from Merseyside Police who has been badgering this office all week. I'm afraid his weasel-like chumminess as sought to extract information from me in order to persecute one of his own was just too much to stomach first thing in the morning. I told him he should be investigating real crime in Liverpool not hounding out of a job a loyal and hardworking fellow officer.

Another rewarding day on the telephone and opening the post yesterday. From the three hundred letters received there were just three from those who were "not Sparticus" . . . now doesn't that make you so proud of your fellow members.

Thursday, 27 November 2008

AT LAST, I managed to get some work done on Freedom yesterday and the report of a dinner held in South Shropshire sent in by James Whittall caught my eye. Above are two of the five photos received and at a time when the make-up of the British National Party is under the media spotlight, these show a rather good cross section of people that are now within our ranks.

In the run-up to the all important elections in June next year, Freedom, in issue after issue, will be showing the real face of the British National Party in an effort to once and for all nail the lies of our opponents in the media. All you budding photographers out there please make sure you take as many photos as possible of the BNP at work in your area and send them in to the newspaper.

I feel ten foot tall this morning! Why, you may ask? Because of Lee Barnes, is my reply and if you heard the Moral Maze on Radio 4 last night you will know what I mean. Lee was superb and wiped the floor with his opponents. He was an aggressive defender of commonsense and exposed the Orwellian attitudes of those in power who seek to silence the BNP. Lee was on the offensive throughout his appearance, something we don't often get the chance to do, and it made rivetting listening. You can hear it here - and make sure you post something on the Moral Maze Messageboard.

Now I'm going to make a prediction. I listen to Radio 4's news and political programmes a lot and many of these are turgid and bland. However, now and again, you do get spokesmen on certain subjects that are not only knowledgeable but also have an out-of-the-ordinary delivery that makes it interesting listening. Once they have made their mark these people seem to pop up quite regularly because the BBC acknowledges their talent is especially attuned to the radio. Lee Barnes definitely has both these qualities and I think we might be hearing a lot more from him on the radio.

Another good day for the BNP yesterday in the Membership Office with over £1,700 taken in membership subs alone. It is quite incredible that at a time of recession, with Christmas just four weeks away, and with politics well down people's priority list at the moment, that our much-maligned Party can create such an interest. It was good to speak to so many committed people yesterday and I was delighted to hear from Cynthia and Michael Wainwright from Cornwall. Since the leak of the list, they have run an email campaign asking people to take out Gold Membership of the Party to show that we won't be intimidated and that the resolve of our membership is as strong as ever. I was able to tell Cynthia yesterday that their campaign is proving a fantastic success.

Of course, after speaking to so many enthusiastic supporters, all who have been 'outed' yet haven't wavered, one's patience with the "I'm not Sparticus brigade" runs a little thin. I had a gentleman on yesterday who wasn't even on the list but was still anxiously going over and over again all the possiblities of the terrible things that might happen to him. In the end I was delighted to take his resignation and might well have offered him some advice that my 16 year-old son seems to proffer to me at every opportunity "Why don't you grow a pair!" - I think he is referring to testicles.

Two and a half more days on the telephone, then I'm back to the peace and quiet of the Freedom office.

And finally in answer to the question, obviously asked by someone who must be under 40, "Who on earth are Workington Reds? . . . ."

Workington were a Football League club from 1951-1977 and now play in the Conference North. They have a wonderful history, playing at Anfield and losing just 1-0 against Liverpool in front of 50,000, leading Manchester United 1-0 in front of 22,000 at Borough Park (where we still play today) before losing 3-1. That game was played just weeks before the Munich Air Disaster. We also held Chelsea to a 2-2 draw in the quarter final of the League Cup before losing the replay.

Reds were managed by the great Bill Shankly and at every home game I enjoy a drink in the lounge named after the great man. In fact I have written a number of books on the history of the club which are still available on ebay called "So Sad, So Very Sad". Any football enthusiasts reading this who want to see Workington in action should check out this goal feast at Hyde two weeks ago.

Wednesday, 26 November 2008

EVEN before the last seven days I didn't like answering the telephone, preferring to correspond with regard to Freedom by email . . . now I positively hate it. Yesterday there was no respite in the calls with over 100 taken, the same as the previous 24 hour spell. There were TEN renewals of membership and FIVE new memberships taken in our office alone before 9.00am and this steady stream continued throughout the day.

On top of this, the post yesterday was nearly 200 letters and opening and preparing these for databasing meant that Tina and I missed Nick's speech at Whitehaven - you can find out all about that and a day's campaigning in the town on Clive Jefferson's excellent blog.

We were worried that the post would bring a deluge of resignations but in this batch there were just ten current members and six lapsed members who wanted to be removed from our files. Of course this is disappointing, but the number is a fraction of what our opponents had been hoping would be deserting us.

The police were here again yesterday morning completing their investigations into the theft of our membership list back in November 2007. They have been meticulous in their evidence gathering and I'm very hopeful that a prosecution of the culprit or culprits will take place. The list would never have been leaked on to the internet if it hadn't been for the actions of these individuals who had launched a coup to try to takeover the BNP at the time of last year's Conference.

There's a lot of anger amongst our membership over the leak in the first place, and the actions of the media since the list was made public. A conviction would show everyone just how serious we take this situation and it will deter others who have any similar ideas.

The media continue to inadvertently drum up support for the BNP with their vindictive reporting completely oblivious that all this BNP bashing just confirms our underdog status. I check out what the newspapers are saying with a couple of finely-tuned search engines and here's one that I use which will give you a taste of the stories doing the rounds. Note the usual rubbish from the Yorkshire Post.

If you have emailed Freedom over the last week I shall be dealing with your correspondence today. There are over 300 emails needing some sort of action and I'm starting working on them as soon as I have posted this.

Simon Darby's blog is usually the place for nature reports but today I'm posting one thanks to my colleague Jan who has sent in the following photograph taken 'just up the road' in Gretna late yesterday afternoon. Starlings getting ready to migrate - this is a stunning shot.

And finally I have had some stick from Kinks fans after my recent infatuation with the Small Faces. The Kinks have always been my favourite group with the Small Faces a close second. So here's a classic from Ray Davies and Co with just a little bit of a BNP theme . . .

Tuesday, 25 November 2008

THANKS to North Kesteven organiser, Mike Cooper, for forwarding a message from one of his members who is serving overseas.The message reads . . .

"Have just read Part One Orders today - this is where official Army Policy is distributed on a daily basis and there was a WHOLE paragraph about the British National Party!

Every soldier in the British Army (ie 100,000 troops) read this daily - they have to by order. The Navy and RAF have similar orders, so add about 40,000 extra personnel on.

It says that "any serviceman/woman is entitled to join ANY political party he/she wishes INCLUDING the BNP and to attend political meetings etc. However they must not attend in uniform or indulge in behaviour that will bring the forces into disrespect. They must not attend marches or demonstrations or be involved in an official capacity with any political party."

So to summarise this means that the BNP is now being treated like every other political party in the country as far as the Armed Forces are concerned.

Today's Part One Orders are a GREAT step forward and has put us on an equal footing with the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberals. A lot of soldiers will breathe a sigh of relief and the positive impact this will have on the BNP's image among service personnel and their families is INCALCULABLE!!! Good news all round!"

ANOTHER huge day on the telephone for yours truly as I fielded over 100 calls in a nine hour spell. Tina spent the day in a meeting with two police officers investigating the initial theft of the membership file back in November 2007 and the posting of that same list on the internet 12 months later.

I can certainly confirm that the police are taking both crimes very seriously indeed. Tina's meeting didn't finish till seven o'clock in the evening and both officers are back again today to finalise statements etc.

I spoke with another police officer yesterday specifically with regard to the threatening telephone calls received by BNP members in the county covered by his force. He reassured me that every incident was being taken very seriously and that in cases of elderly members who had been particularly upset, telephone calls were being monitored and regular police visits were helping to calm any worries. Without saying too much on the subject, my personal view is that there is a massive gulf between rank and file policemen and women and their politically appointed police chiefs who are pushing the anti-BNP line.

Good column from Mick Hume in The Times this morning. Mick has never been on my Christmas card list and probably even tried to physically attack me back in the early 1980s when his Marxists and my Nationalists clashed on the streets of London. But he is exactly right in what he says about the actions of Merseyside Police. It is just a pity that some of our more respected columnists haven't got the courage that Mick has shown in standing up against current PC trends and shaming those who are trying to conduct this witch hunt against a legal political party.

I am delighted to report that from my 100 plus telephone calls yesterday 60% were membership renewals, 15% were new memberships, 15% were donations and just 10% were calls concerned with the leaked list. From these, there were just two current members who resigned for employment reasons and two lapsed members who asked to be removed from our files - but all four confirmed their support for the BNP and said they would be voting for us at election time.

What is very clear now is that this persecution campaign run by those anti-BNP groups and trade unions linked to the Labour Party has not only failed but has given us a timely boost. As I said in one of my previous posts - it all goes to show just how little the anti-BNP brigade understand the British people.

It has been good to get a spate of emails from Small Faces fans recalling those halcyon days of the 1960s. Sadly I only saw them perform live on the one occasion, at the Assembly Hall in Worthing in 1967, but I have all their music and always take it with me when I go on holiday courtesy of my daughter's ipod. Still no Stevie Marriott DVD and now I'm getting worried. Even second class post can't take eight days from Wapping to Wigton . . . surely?

And finally to footie - Reds have drawn Kings Lynn at home in the FA Trophy which is a double-edged sword. On the plus side we do have a chance of going through to the next round and bagging £5,000 in the process, but on the down side we will have to pay for our visitors' expenses for an overnight stay in West Cumbria which will mean that there will be very little left in the kitty after Kings Lynn's half of the gate money is paid to them as well.

Sunday, 23 November 2008

SUNDAY afternoon and all is well. The newspapers provided a good hour's reading this morning with the BNP much to the fore. The big smear in the News of the World could 'finger' only two from the 12,000 names its journalists had scoured through and both those individuals had already been expelled from the Party, more than 12months ago, when news of their misdemeanors came into the public domain.

We are hoping that one of the policemen being persecuted at the moment will stand firm and force a test case on the illegal barring of BNP members from working within the police service. I know Nick has been in touch with one officer (not the one in the media spotlight at the moment) and has promised all the legal help possible should he decide to stand up and take on Gordon Brown and his lackeys in the force who use this anti-democratic bullying to try to scare people away from joining the BNP.

Tomorrow will probably be another manic day on the telephones and on top of that we have an appointment with police investigating the source who was behind the posting of the 2007 membership list on the internet and those behind the campaign of intimidation of our members by abusive telephone calls.

What will be fascinating will be at the end of next week when the figures of the last ten days can be collated in full and we will be able to see exactly what the 'commercial' effect on the Party has been from the publicity prompted by the leaking of the membership list.

I know that many of our members have suffered great anxiety over what has happened but as long as no one loses out in real terms then the snap shot of the members that make-up the BNP, which has received so much publicity, can only benefit the Party. We are just ordinary people who are worried about the future of our country and see economic and political nationalism as the way to safeguard our nation.

From my very limited support of our telephone staff, I can report that from the calls I took the overall feeling I have is that our members, far from being cowed by what has happened are now even more determined to help the BNP make the all-important breakthrough into mainstream politics. Also, as I have said in previous posts, Joe Public also doesn't like to see this persecution of ordinary people just for their political beliefs taking place and to show their opposition have been joining our ranks.

The back garden is full of tree branches and there's an empty bottle of Cava in the recycling bin which was downed last night in celebration of Workington's magnificent FA Trophy win at Tamworth yesterday. My cash-strapped club is now £4,000 better off and I'm hopeful for a home draw against high profile opposition so the club can have another good payday in the next round.

Still no Stevie Marriott DVD, I hope it hasn't gone missing in the Royal Mail as it took a long time to locate.

Saturday, 22 November 2008

TINA and I were waiting last night to be 'doorstepped' by News of the World journalists but we sat staring at a couple of empty wine glass for a couple of hours and there was no knock on the door.

It's a long haul up here to Cumbria and we were going to offer them a glass of Cava before sending them on their way. For 30-odd years I've read what the NoW has had to say about British Nationalism and the idea that either I or Tina, who joined up in 1982, would dane to speak to anyone from that newspaper is laughable.

It's been a long hard few days, but we have definitely come out ahead. More new members than resignations, a flourish of early membership renewals many of them for Gold Membership, and loads of donations with a few of them quite sizeable.

Hazel Blears has given us another huge plug this morning so it looks as though the BNP will be one of the main talking points in tomorrow's all important newspapers.

Today I'm pollarding some trees in my back garden. It's a job I have been meaning to do for a couple of weeks but the wind has been much too strong to get it done. Today it's very still and, although very cold, ideal weather to get those trees lopped.

Workington Reds are at Tamworth in the FA Trophy this afternoon so I shall be glued to my radio after three o'clock and I'm hoping that my Stevie Marriott Memorial Concert DVD arrives today so that I can watch it tonight with a glass of the wine that I had saved for the journalists who didn't quite make it this far north.

Friday, 21 November 2008

LATE yesterday afternoon things started to get back to normal and I was able to unwind, just a little, by continuing my investigation into the possible outcomes of the result of the North West Euro Constituency in June of next year.

All calculations have to be based on the turnout and vote share of the 2004 elections and, of course, from this there will be changes. In all probability the Tory vote will be going up and the Labour vote will be coming down and the Lib-Dem and Green votes will no doubt be staying roughly the same. But there will be one significant change to the 2004 voting pattern and that will be the collapse of the UKIP vote.

Now will this huge disappearance of a block vote for one of the parties that actually won a seat last time round benefit us or not?

Well, presumably the UKIP vote will go somewhere and the UKIP voters won't simply stay at home, so this is where the guesswork comes in. I'm predicting that UKIP will manage to keep 30% of its 2004 vote, that 60% will go back to the Tories and that 10% will find its way to us.

Thursday, 20 November 2008

What a manic 48 hours! I have never experienced anything like it. Hundreds of telephone calls answered with as soon as the receiver was replaced, the phone started ringing again.

Yesterday morning all the calls were from worried members, but after the lunch time news bulletins things started to change. At around two o'clock I took a £100 donation from someone who had just heard Nick on BBC Radio 2. Then the renewals started coming in one after the other. People were now angry at the intimidation and victimisation of individual BNP members both by the media's use of a stolen membership list and the threatening phone calls. They said they wanted to do something about it and did so by renewing their membership, with many taking out Gold Membership.

Today, the new memberships have started coming in with ordinary members of the public expressing their outrage at the treatment the BNP is receiving in the media. Now approaching midday, the calls are in the vast majority membership renewals, new membership and donations, with just a handful wanting to resign from the BNP.

On Clive Jefferson's blog he gives some useful information on the threatening telephone calls so please read it and follow his advice.

Our opponents and their lackeys in the media are making a big mistake if they think their open bullying of the BNP and it members will hurt our Party. The British people don't like to see anyone being victimised, it is something that stirs a response in them and they will support the underdog to ensure that this sort bullying stops.

That the Labour Government, which is sponsoring the intimidation, can believe it will deter people from joining, supporting and voting for the BNP just goes to show how little they understand the very nature and traditions of the indigenous British people.

It's another spectacular own goal from them which has provided the British National Party with the sort of publicity that can only benefit our Party as it shows that our membership is made up of ordinary British people from all walks of life.

FIRST and foremost if you have received a threatening or abusive telephone call - please contact your local Police.

They are taking what is a co-ordinated campaign against individual British National Party members very seriously and are working with the telephone companies to trace the calls. It is very clear that the leak of our membership list and the intimidation of our members that followed didn't happen by chance and is something that has been meticulously planned involving a great many of our opponents.

Thousands of threatening calls have been made with the vast majority carrying the same message and report after report from our members refer an 'office or call centre background noise' whilst the threat was being made. If the calls are coming from one place, as it seems, then it will be much easier for the police to be able to trace the source and prosecute those behind the campaign.

So please don't suffer in silence. If you have received such a telephone call, then get on to the police now and remember to say that the call was motivated by hate and should be treated as a hate crime.

Wednesday, 19 November 2008

THERE have been hundreds of calls to our three offices over the past 36 hours and a clear pattern has emerged of an orchestrated campaign of telephone calls and emails by our opponents against our membership.

The calls appear to be coming from a call centre and carry the same message saying "Watch your back, we know you're a racist, expect a visit." It's the same 'patter' in all the calls which smacks of a prompt, deliberately written for teams of telephonists.

If you have received this type of call, please contact the police as we need them to log your complaints so that across the country forces become aware that there is this campaign of intimidation under way. And make no mistake it is a 'hate' campaign so please make sure you say this to the officer you speak to.

The BNP membership, in the main, is showing great resolve with more donations and renewals of membership taken today than in the past three days.

IF anyone still had any doubts over the motives of that little coterie of individuals who tried to ferment internal dispute within the British National Party last November in an effort to scupper our chances at the Greater London Assembly elections, the events of the last 48 hours will have removed them.

The membership list that appeared on the Internet on Monday morning was the same one that was stolen by the 'Gang of Four' and used to send out the bogus bulletins last January that they hoped would destroy the BNP. Enough will be said on this matter in the media so I won't waste space on it here, apart from staying that if they think such action will hurt the BNP are very much mistaken. The survival of John Sergeant on Strictly Come Dancing by the public vote each week shows that the British people don't like to see the victimisation of individuals and any attempt by our opponents working within the media to do this to our ordinary members will spectacularly backfire and drive even more supporters into our ranks.

The publication of the list at this time has only one purpose - to whip up dissention and demoralise our membership at a vital time when we are gearing up for the European Elections. It's exactly the same strategy and timing that was used for the GLA elections last year.

And no wonder the opposition is running scared. Yesterday I number-crunched the votes needed for Nick Griffin to take one of the eight seats on offer in the North West Euro constituency by breaking the figures down to the 43 local authorities. Looking at our council elections in these areas, the Party looks very much on course to securing the 8th and final seat available.

Based on the 2004 Result in the North West Constituency and taking the turnout and vote share to be similar, the British National Party needs to receive another 33,842 votes (1.6%) to achieve its goal.

Tuesday, 18 November 2008

IN the excellent brochure produced for last weekend's Annual Conference there were 16 pages dedicated to next year's European Elections.

It was a briefing for delegates on the D'Hondt voting system, which is used for these elections, as well as the results the last time the elections were contested in 2004 and the changes that have taken place since then.

With the Conference having effectively launched our campaign for June 2009, it is worthwhile taking a closer look at the North West constituency in these elections where BNP chairman Nick Griffin, is our lead candidate and where many political pundits believe the BNP has its best chance of success.

Nick will give the election in this constituency a certain celebrity status with the media spotlight focussing on the BNP's high profile chairman and while this will no doubt help our campaign, it will be the hard work by our election teams in the 43 local authorities that make up the North West Euro Constituency which will in the end decide whether we win our first seat in Europe or not.

Back in 2004 we came agonisingly close to winning a seat - 31,727 votes short which was just 1.5% of the total vote. Unfortunately this time around because of the new countries joining the European Union, Britain has lost a number of its seats in the European Parliament and in the North West we now have just eight seats up for grabs rather than the nine in 2004. But thankfully, because of the nature of the D'Hondt voting system, that doesn't make that much difference. It just means that that based on 2004 voting patterns we would need another 33,842 votes (1.6%) to take the last and eighth seat on offer.

But of course, the voting patterns next June will be very different from 2004 because of the collapse of the UK Independence Party which could mean that as much as 90% of UKIP vote will go elsewhere. While we will hope to pick up some of this, the lion's share will go back to the Tories from where it came, and because the Tories took that 8th seat in 2004 this might raise the percentage needed to win that seat. However this might well be compensated by the fall in the Labour vote which could once again drop the percentage needed to win the eighth seat back to around 8%.

BNP 31,727 votes short of a seat last time with 9 seats available.BNP 33,842 votes short of a seat based on 8 seats.BNP would need to poll a total of 168,801 votes to win a seat in June based on 2004 turnout and vote split.

Tomorrow I'll take a more in-depth look at the votes needed in the 43 local authority for the BNP to win a seat, and the results we have achieved in these areas in local elections over the past 18 months.

Monday, 17 November 2008

YOU would have thought that the Annual Conference of Britain's fourth most popular political party would have warranted a report of a couple of lines at the very least even if in only one of our national newspapers.

But apparently it wasn't newsworthy enough, and in years gone by I would have been desperately disappointed at this lack of coverage which would have left the public completely in the dark as to the event taking place. But today I'm not bothered by this deliberate media blackout - it can't be anything else - because thanks to our website the conference was taken live into the homes of thousands of BNP supporters who didn't come to Blackpool and in the months to come any new visitors to our website will be able to see and hear the best speeches, debates and lectures from the Conference thanks to BNPtv.

Nick Griffin's speech was topical and sharp, linking the recession to the public's political awakening and realisation that only the British National Party can safeguard our people through these most difficult of times. I think the speech links well with the front page of the latest issue of Freedom which details how only an economy based on national interests, which directly protects the livelihoods of the British working people and the welfare of our most vulnerable and elderly, is the way forward.

The Conference was the best organised one that I've attended and that's down to Micheala Mackensie whose experience and professionalism in this sphere has taken the Party's political events to a new level over the past 12 months. The debate was also better than anything in previous years and the calibre of our delegates continues to impress. The future looks very, very good for the British National Party and barring any major setbacks, we must be on target for further electoral progress in 2009.

I posted something very similar on this blog last year and within 48 hours the BNP appeared to be facing a catastrophic split which for a couple of weeks in December last year looked as though it might completely wreck our Party. Thankfully, that's now all a distant memory and there have been no ill-effects from the trauma that took place. In fact in the East Midlands, the area which should have suffered most because of the antics of a handful of rogue officials, the Party has become much more effective under the guidance of the experienced Geoff Dickens.

Of course, it is the European Elections that could place us firmly in the limelight next June, but I'm also quite bullish about our chances in a number of County County elections that are also taking place at the same time, so it should be an interesting year.

This week I'm going to do some number-crunching on our chances in the North-West for the European Parliament and I will post my findings on here later in the week. Five years ago I did something similar which proved very enlightening. I was at Manchester City Hall as the results came in and was able to tell after a handful of returns that although we had polled well we would fall just short of claiming a seat. I shall try and knock up a similar chart to check our progress so we can see by more local local election results whether we shall be in with a shout or not.

Friday, 14 November 2008

THE popular election website 'Vote 2007' had a discussion yesterday on when the British National Party had last GAINED a council seat in a by-election.

The Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrats election pundits who frequent the site came to the conclusion that it was way back in September 2004 when we won Goresbrook Ward on Barking and Dagenham Council.

I think the thread was opened as a something of a 'gloat' directed at the handful of BNP supporters who post on the site. Well, it couldn't have been worse timing by the old gang apologists as 24 hours after the debate was introduced, the BNP gained its first council seat in a by-election for over four years!

The British National Party were contesting Fenside Ward in Boston for the very first time and took the ward by storm, polling more votes than Labour, the Tories, Lib-Dems and UKIP candidates put together.

BNP candidate David Owens, won this election on the doorstep using the Party's finely honed canvassing techniques to come from nowhere and overtake all the establishment parties and score a convincing victory.

You have to talk to people face to face when discussing the sensitive issues of immigration and migrant workers, which were top of everyone's political agenda in Boston, so voters can see that it's not about racism but just our concern for the well-being of our country and our people.

Three weeks ago, East Midlands Election Officer Wayne McDermott told me that we would win this ward. Last night, believe it or not, he was disappointed our winning margin wasn't bigger.

"We would have won this seat by even more if it hadn't rained all day," Wayne reported this morning. On a bit more of a positive note he said: "It's been great campaigning in Boston and there are plenty more wards in the town where we have a similar level of support."

As predicted the most closely contested ward of the three being fought by the BNP last night was in Hinckley & Bosworth where less than 400 votes covered all four candidates. The BNP vote held up well in the face of huge campaigns by the main parties in what was a key marginal. Congratulations to our candidate Colin Gilmore.Full Details:HINCKLEY & BOSWORTH COUNCIL Markfield Stanton & Field Head Thursday 13th November 2008 Sue Sprayson (Con) 637 Andy Furlong (Lab) 521 Robin Webber-Jones (Lib-Dem) 390Colin Gilmore (BNP) 263BNP Percentage: 14.5%

In Darlington, BNP candidate John Hoodless was just nine votes short of taking third place from the Tories with a respectable 10% of the vote.Full Details:DARLINGTON COUNCIL North Road Ward Thursday 13th November 2008 Anne Curry (Lib-Dem) 561 John Vasey (Lab) 262George Jenkinson (Con) 115 John Hoodless (BNP) 106 Stephen Jones (Ind) 60BNP Percentage: 9.6%

Can anyone think of a better morale booster on the eve of our Party's Annual conference?

Thursday, 13 November 2008

Remembrance Day has always been of huge significance for British Nationalists. You can't get a more important day than the one that remembers all those who have given their lives fighting in wars to keep Britain free and independent.

When I first joined the National Front in 1976, the Party held a Remembrance Day Parade to the Cenotaph each year, which took place in the afternoon after all the official parades had finished. If I remember correctly the 1976 and 1977 parades went off without any real opposition. They seemed huge affairs with many thousands of marchers meeting up in Bressenden Place. We finished with a political rally under floodlights at Waterloo right by the river and it was a really morale boosting occasion. When it was all over, we went back to our own coach park which was full of the coaches that had brought National Front supporters from across the country to the capital. On these two occasions the events did seem to be large and well-organised. Does anyone else remember them and can put a figure on the attendance? I would have thought more than 3,000 on both occasions, or is my memory playing tricks on me?

Getting back to the photo, I like it so much because it shows British National Party members from Crawley and Horsham helping out their British Legion association and this is something I would like to see becoming the norm on future Remembrance Days. It is, of course, vitally important to pay your respects and lay a wreath at the ceremonies, but helping out the British Legion as well, shows just how important this day of Remembrance is to members of the British National Party.

From a great photo to a great quote and it comes from Cumbria's own human political dynamo Clive Jefferson.

"The powers that be didn’t want to have this election, they fully intended to leave the seat vacant until next June, when all the county seats are up for re-election.“Well it is not in my nature to allow the complacent establishment – the old boys’ club – to ‘agree’ not to have an election, because it doesn’t suit their winter holiday calendar.”

You can read the whole report from the Whitehaven Newshere but the background is that Clive has called for an election in Whitehaven which is just down the coast from Workington, where we polled our best ever vote in that town a couple of weeks ago.

And it's our massively increased votes here in Cumbria that have got our lead candidate for the European Elections in the North West, Nick Griffin, rather excited. I had a long telephone conversation with the BNP chairman yesterday and he is very upbeat about our chances of winning a seat in the European Parliament representing the North West. Nick believes that our improved votes in Cumbria and on Merseyside will play a significant part in boosting our chances.

On the music front I received quite a few emails about The Kinks reforming. I stand by what I said yesterday about remembering them as they were. My other favourite group, the Small Faces, can never reform and hit the road again. Stevie Marriott died in a house fire in 1991 and Ronnie Lane died of multiple sclerosis in 1997. They were a brilliant group and I listen to their songs most weekends when I'm catching up on correspondence and enjoying a glass of wine. Here's one of my favourites, together with some photos of that era.In fact, I have bought a DVD from Amazon of the Stevie Marriott Memorial Concert in 2001 this very week. I've seen some clips on YouTube and it looks good - I'll report back on this when I've seen it in full.

Wednesday, 12 November 2008

“If we get a national leaflet out in Dunnington, will we get coverage for it?”

That was the chairman of the Green Party in York commenting in a report in the York Press at the weekend. It's a great quote and sums up the dilemma facing our opponents who try to use the media to denigrate and attack our Party. The full report is below:

Yesterday we spoke of how Searchlight promotes the BNP in the media by virtue of its attacks against us and so this is the case here. Our opponents think by their critical quotes against us in this report that they will influence people away from supporting the BNP. But, of course, attacks on the BNP from Labour, the Tories and the Lib-Dems are old hat so this is not the news that hits home in this report. The news value, as underlined in the headline, is that the BNP have been out leafletting in a leafy village in York, and that is all most people will take on board from the article.

The bonus for York BNP is that they probably put out less than 500 leaflets in Dunnington, yet for that hour or so of leafletting, thanks to the York Press, news of the activity reached 30,000 people in York itself.

And this is why, at our stage of development, it is a win/win situation for the British National Party. Of course we would prefer things to be on a level playing field and that like the other political parties we can go about our campaigning without interference from 'third parties' at election time and negative reports in the media. But our opponents won't allow us to do this. No, they prefer to oppose us at every turn, but now, even by doing this, they are helping to raise our profile.

These are difficult times and the British people are hurting. I believe that when many of them read in their newspapers about establishment politicians being "outraged" they are going to say "good!". It's the old gang parties that have brought this country to this shocking state of affairs and many would be quite happy to see them uncomfortably "outraged" and will look sympathetically on the reason that had brought it about . . . in this case the British National Party.

Trevor Agnew, a political colleague from Darlington with the same music tastes as me, emails that our favourite group, The Kinks, are re-forming with the original line-up from 1964, Ray and Dave Davies, Mick Avory and Pete Quaife. Now, I don't know whether this is good news or not. All four are over sixty and Dave is recovering from a stroke and Pete has a kidney problem. I think I would like just like to remember them as they were . . . back on a Sunny Afternoon in 1966 when England had just won the World Cup. Ah memories

I also think that some of the best Kinks songs came after Pete Quaife had left and John Dalton took over on bass and John 'The baptist' Gosling was on organ.

Finally on Radio 4 this morning, in a report on the rise in unemployment, they featured Shefffield and included a musical link from the Full Monty, the film that focussed on the decline in the steel industry in that city. But when talking about unemployment I would look further back to the 1980s and the destruction of our vital coal mining industry by the appalling Thatcher Government. No film better sums this up than Brassed Off and this is a cracking clip which I have played before on here but will play again now. In this scene it's band practice, and all the while the union rep argues in vain with the management to keep the colliery open.

Unlike some who get very upset by the offerings from Gerry & Co, I'm not that bothered because in the big picture they do us a favour in promoting the BNP. Of course I get cross, when a Hope Not Hate leaflet appears just before polling day in a local election and our vote is hit, but in the long term this too even benefits us. That is because it makes us stronger and ensures we never take election campaigning for granted because we have to work twice as hard as the three main parties in case such leaflets are distributed.

Searchlight wouldn't be receiving the trade union and Labour Party funding it is now getting if it wasn't for the stunning growth of the BNP over the past six years. It is, in fact, in that organisation's best interest that the British National Party is doing well and that is why it gives us a plug, as it is doing in the two articles above, quite comfortable in the knowledge that such reports will benefit us.

This is because Searchlight hawks its scribblings around all the media and it is guaranteed that one or both articles will almost certainly be taken up by a national newspaper or the BBC. The media are already nibbling at the idea that the BNP and the nationalist agenda we promote will become much more popular with the public during times of recession, so the Searchlight article will give this thread another boost.

The 'Racism Cut Both Ways' piece will alert the media to this campaign so that when journalists up and down the country get a copy of our leaflet they will have already been briefed and will be more inclined to give it a mention. With Trade Union bosses already wound up about it and wanting it banned, that is even more grist to the mill.

Remembrance Day photos are still coming in apace but can I remind organisers to send the original photos to me in high resolution. When they appear on the BNP website they are low-res and not suitable for the newspaper.

Monday, 10 November 2008

I haven't looked at my blog for a couple of weeks and although I posted the Redcar result on it, I have just noticed that I've forgot to include it in Freedom. It was an encouraging result so I shall do a small report in the January issue, even though it's long after the event. If anyone can pass on my apologies to our candidate, Bernard Collinson, I would be very grateful if they could do so.

All road lead to Blackpool this weekend for the party's Annual Conference and it promises to be the biggest and best ever. Last year the hotel was bursting at the seams but I understand that efforts have been made to increase the size of the Conference Hall by removing the partition wall at the back.

Radio 4 News at eight o'clock this morning carried a report of a singer, who I have never heard of, who had died. Apparently she was South African and her claim to fame was that she was an anti-apartheid campaigner. When I think of all the great British singers who have died yet never got a mention on the BBC's News it does make me cross. That report dove-tailed nicely with an advert for Women's Hour today given a plug just before the bulletin, which announced that the special guest on today's programme was someone who sang at the Nelson Mandela Birthday celebration.

The BBC are wringing their hands in anguish because they didn't have enough black staff reporting on the Obama victory.The BBC sent a team of 175 to cover the US elections but acknowledged it should have had more black faces on show.The head of BBC News said the coverage showed that more had to be done to attract people from ethnic minorities to the corporation."Our figures are improving, they are still not as good as they should be at senior levels and they are not as good as they should be on air," he said. "But it's not about figures it's about portrayal, it's about how we come across."

The BBC have no shortage of Black faces when showing classroom footage that go with reports on Education. It's very much a case of spot the white face then.

Massive turn out for the BNP at yesterday's Remembrance Day ceremonies and with reports coming in from across the country, it should make a very good feature for the next issue of Freedom.

I'm hoping to sort out the problems with the Freedom website this week. It has been stuck in a time warp since the advent of the new website because the way I used to update it became redundant with all the new technology. Hopefully it can become a pdf-orientated site with the full newspaper being able to be read on line one month after it comes out.